At $2000, the Wacom Cintiq Companion tablet/laptop hybrid might not appeal to the most budget-conscious, but could be the perfect piece of tech for serious artists.

Whether you're an aspiring or professional artist, Wacom is a name you should know. This Japanese tech company is the leader in drawing tablets and knowing what they offer is a benefit for any graphics professional. Those familiar with Wacom products (I've been a professional artist for more than 25 years) have been wishing that we could untether from our bulky desktops and make our talents more mobile. That's why Wacom devised the Cintiq Companion. Wishes come true, but for a hefty $2000 price.

For me, this tablet is not a luxury but a necessity. Yes, there are cheaper alternatives, but mostly Android or iOS based. The Companion is a tablet running 64bit Windows 8, full versions of your favorite programs, and a Cintiq all in one piece of tech.

Design and Specs

The Companion's aggressive design is built more like a tank than the common offerings from Apple and Samsung. It's actually in a different class altogether. More of a heavyweight contender packing laptop components in its 14.7 x 9.7 inch rectangular housing. Chiseled from hard plastic and metal, it's a strong entry for Wacom's first-generation slate. At its core, the specs are more akin to a premium laptop than a common media tablet. The Companion is designed to be the first portable graphics workstation. Its 13.3-inch display has a gorgeous glare free IPS panel with 1,920x1,080 resolution and tracks up to ten points of simultaneous touch with zero drag (so important for sketching) when using the included stylus or fingers. It's thick, measuring 0.7x14.8x9.8 inches and weighs 3.9 pounds, almost twice as much as other tablet/laptop hybrids like Microsoft's Surface Pro 2. Although that's weighty for one hand, the tablet works best as a sketchbook sitting comfortably in your lap or propped up like an easel at a nearby coffee shop.

On the front side of the device along the rubber strip is the Rocker Ring, Windows button, and Expresskeys for quick shortcuts. A thin volume rocker that doubles as rotation lock is located along the edge. On the opposite side are two USB 3.0 ports, a mini DisplayPort, a headphone jack, and a microSD card slot. And like most tablets, the Companion has dual cameras. An 8-megapixel camera in the rear and a 2-megapixel camera in front, which helps capture reference photos on the fly or Skype into a meeting. Under the hood, the Cintiq Companion has one killer engine—an Intel Core i7 processor—as well as 512 GB SSD, 8 GB of RAM, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0.

Accessories

The Cintiq Companion comes with the newly named Pro Pen that draws directly on the screen with 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity, as in the softer the stroke the lighter the line and vice versa. The result is impressively mimicking the traditional pencil and paper. The Pro Pen comes with nine replacement nibs housed neatly in its rubber travel case. A three-height adjustable stand clips to the back, transforming the tablet into a touchscreen laptop. To carry it all, Wacom includes a protective sleeve, made of durable neoprene outer material and lined with a fuzzy blue Cookie Monster-type interior. Zip it up, close the magnetic flap, and the unit is protected. Two pockets on the outside, one for the pen and the other for the optional Wacom keyboard ($49.95), rounds out the accessories.

Performance

So all this is nice, but specs mean nothing if its impressive form is saddled with uninspiring function. Luckily, Wacom delivers on both. I've been using the Companion for more than two months with a daily routine of sketching and retouching mostly in PhotoShop, Illustrator and Sketchbook Pro. It runs everything smoothy and full-blown Windows 8 means no crippled apps. It's just like working on a desktop workstation. The real stand out program is Autodesk's Sketchbook Pro. It's designed to work with touch screens way better than Adobe Photoshop. I can draw with one hand while rotating and zooming with the other.

When it comes to battery life, the Cintiq Companion is a little on the low side. Running in high performance mode, the battery won't last as long, but I managed to get about four or five hours of intense use and thats good enough for my needs.

Hunter White

Bottom Line

Being a digital artist, there's no doubt you're going to be using something from Wacom. The Cintiq line is their elite series and has given graphic professionals the ability draw directly on-screen for years. Wacom now takes it a step further with the Companion and gives you the freedom to take your work on the go. There's definite room for improvement. For instance, the device's weight and poor battery life could be unattractive to some consumers. However, it's a first generation, and Wacom balances the scale with smart design and user friendliness.

The Companion's mobility makes this tablet invaluable to an artist like me. It's not just a gadget I want—It's a must-have. The price is high, but making art professionally has never been cheap. Software alone can cost thousands of dollars not to mention computers, graphic cards, memory, and of course, tablets. There's a reason you've heard the term "starving artist."

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